Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
chapter-404

“They still would take time to arrive here, as the distance is greater.” Philesius comforted and said, “The fifth legions owes the fourth legion a favour and would pay it back later.”

Epiphanes smiled bitterly, “Commander, do you think Drakos is a person who knows to be grateful?”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

At the same time as Syracuse's army landed in Locri, Davos' army also reached Pyxous. Before his arrival, he had sent a messenger to inform the Praetor of Pyxous – Androlis that he must strictly block the news of their arrival. Therefore, Androlis had sent five small warships in the port to temporarily intercept the merchant ships heading north, forcing them to temporarily stop at Pyxous' port, causing a lot of complaints. After Davos arrived and heard this, he praised Androlis for being decisive and careful and even dared to take responsibility.

At this time, Androlis accompanied archon Davos to inspect the city and port of Pyxous. Davos was quite satisfied with the order and construction of the whole city, so he asked, “How many are Theonian citizens now?”

“There are 4523 official citizens, 3351 preparatory citizens, 5117 registered freemen, a total of 12,991, while the population of Pyxous is about 53,000…” Androlis answered as much as he knew.

“Oh, Pyxous has a large population!” Davos was a little surprised.

“Milord, Pyxous was originally a big city in Lucania, no less than Grumentum and Potentia. Furthermore, it is also a coastal city, which is much more attractive to Greek freemen than other Lucanian cities, such as Grumentum and Nerulum.” Said Androlis proudly.

“There are so many Greeks that have settled here?” Davos asked immediately.

“Yes. There are about 4,230 Greek Theonian official citizens, preparatory citizens and freemen, and this number is increasing every day, mainly because there are many Greek residents from Campania.”

“In just three years, the Greeks of Pyxous are now almost half of the population*!” Davos was surprised again and asked anxiously, “Do they often have conflicts with the Lucanians?” (note: citizens)

“There are some, but it is not too violent.” Androlis said with a relaxed tone, “Due to Pyxous experiencing many defeats before being integrated into Theonia, the young and middle-aged Lucanians in Pyxous suffered heavy casualties. Not only did they leave a lot of lands, but most of those who remained lost their courage and ruthlessness. Moreover, their tribal settlements were mostly in the mountains in the east, and they were mainly grazing, while the Greeks here preferred the land near the sea. It is why both sides could live in peace. There is also..uhm, the living habits of the Greeks, mainly those from Campania, are somewhat similar to those of the Lucanian, so both sides get along well…”

“It seems that you are enjoying your life here! And you are doing a great job as a praetor, knowing about the citizens of this city!…” Davos praised him repeatedly, and at the same time, he was intrigued by what he had said before and asked, “Lord Androlis, can you tell me more about the characteristics of those Campanians?”

“Milord, the Greeks in Campany are the most unlike Greeks I have ever seen, apart from us Theonians.”

Androlis' words caught Davos' attention, “Oh, what do you mean?”

Androlis thought and said seriously, “I guess it's because foreign races have surrounded the Greeks in Campania (there are Volscian in the north of Campania, Lucanians in the south, Samnites in the east, and Phoenicians in Sardinia, a big island close to the west.) Due to this, the Campanians are very united and like to work together compared to the Greeks in other places who like freedom. On the other hand, some of their living habits were influenced by their neighbours. For example, they like eating beef and mutton and worship some gods that are not Greeks, such as some Campanians building a shrine for the Samnite’s god of war, thinking that they would be safe from wild animals… In Pyxous, these characteristics of theirs are also evident.”

Davos smiled and said in earnest, “In our union, there are Greeks, Lucanians, Bruttians, and now there are even the Greeks of Campania. In the future, more races might join the union. So when dealing with conflicts between ethnic groups, we must first embrace a set of principles: Tolerance – tolerance of their religion and habits. Next is Justice – Everyone, no matter what races are equal under Theonian Law and that there can be no favouritism. Then there is Guidance – guide them to live like our way of life, entertainment, competition, military training… And finally, the most important is Religion – Hades is the protector of Theonia, so never forget about that! In time, I am sure that whatever they were before, they will eventually become Theonians!”

Androlis listened carefully, then nodded his head and said, “Lord Davos, you are right!”

“I am just speaking about it. In fact, you have already done that when managing this city!” Davos then made a self-deprecating smile, “The best way to get these races to integrate faster is to find common ground between them. During this time, I have been discussing it with Ansitanos and found a secret-”

Davos looked at Androlis, seeing that he was listening attentively; he began saying it with emphasis, “Heracles: Heracles is famous among the various Italian tribes, some had even claimed to be his descendants… Hence, I will propose to the Senate the ‘construction of a Temple of Heracles in Thurii and his celebrations be open so that the people of all the various tribes of Theonia would come to celebrate their god’… Unfortunately, the outbreak of war made us suspend it temporarily. However, I could see that Pyxous can try to do it first. What do you think?”

“Milord, that's a great idea!” Androlis gave his heartfelt praise, “In fact, there are already several shrines of Heracles in Pyxous, on both the Lucanian and Campanian sides. Still, I will do my best to build a huge Temple of Heracles so that Pyxous will become the centre of Heracles' worship in this region!”

“Are you going to steal Thurii's limelight? Kunogelata will surely fight you to the death.” Davos said jokingly, and the two laughed.

As they went back to the city hall, they talked and laughed. In this harmonious atmosphere, no one mentioned Eurypus and Pleitinas because there was no need to talk about them as they had become the past.

Back at the city hall, Antonios, the legatus of the first legion, and Amintas, the legatus of the second legion, were already there waiting for them.

“Milord, the construction of the camp is completed, and the soldiers have begun resting.” Antonios immediately came forward and gave his report when he saw Davos coming in, “Furthermore, a messenger from the third legion had come reporting that the third legion is on the way to Pyxous, and it is estimated that they will arrive at dusk.”

“Alexius was frightened and withdrew out of Potentia before he could even have a head-on confrontation with the Samnites. This is a disgrace to our Theonian legion!” Aminstas snorted in dissatisfaction.

“If the third legion had confronted the Samnites army, I am afraid that I could only take your first and second legion with less than 20,000 men to face the huge force of more than 40,000 Samnites. So how would we then fight this war?! Alexius is undoubtedly right in sacrificing his honour to win this war! That is worth learning, especially you, Amintas!” Said Davos sternly. Davos learned about the encounter of the third legion in Potentia a few days ago and Davos from Androlis.

Amintas grumbled a few words unconvinced. But he didn't dare to speak it out.

“Milord, the Samnites are fierce. After setting up ambushes, they took the initiative to send a large army to attack, which did not give the third legion a chance to breathe.” Antonios interjected, “If they knew that we would attack Poseidonia, would the Samnites send another army to attack us?!”

“I feared that they won't come, so it's good if the Samnites really dared to come.” Davos began carefully analysing the plan he had been considering these days to the three others in the living room, “From the information we gathered, the Samnites won more when fighting against the Lucanians in the past. And they even attacked the Campanians for many years, meaning that the Samnites have always been very proud of their combat ability. Furthermore, this is the first time that the Samnites have sent out so many warriors, which may further contribute to their arrogance, and with Syracuse’s aid-” He said as he glanced at Androlis.

Androlis nodded, “Over the past few days, the warships patrolling our port have repeatedly reported that ‘they have discovered a large number of Syracusan transport ships going north and entering the port of Poseidonia.’ I think they are most likely bringing food to the Samnites.”

“Damn Syracuse!” Amintas angrily swore and shouted, “Milord, we should quickly capture Poseidonia and cut off the food supply of the Samnites before the Samnites knew we had arrived!”

“This is indeed a way.” Instead of nodding, Davos continued, “But Androlis told me that the Samnites had their own port town, Irna, in the south of Campania. Otherwise, they would not dare send an army of more than 40,000 men before capturing Poseidonia. And even if we take Poseidonia, it would only add trouble to Syracuse's transportation of food, but it would prolong the time for us to repel them. Besides, Dionysius of Syracuse is already prepared to invade Magna Graecia, so we can't have a long war of attrition with the Samnites!”